Gas-tank absorbent filler.



W. J. MUELLER. GAS TANK ABSORBENT FILLER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 21,1911.

Ptented Dec. 19, 1911 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

W. J. MUELLER.

GAS TANK ABSORBENT FILLER.

APPLICATION FILED .TULY 21,1911.

1,011,988. Patented Dec. 19,1911.

2 QHEETSSHEET 2.

Ii l

71/4 '///I/////I////II1 I/Il/IA 'l/L Meme [UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM J. MOELLER, OF WYOMING, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE PHIIJIP CAREY 'MANU-' FACTURING COMPANY, OF LOCKLAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

GAS-TANK ABSORBENT FILLER.

Patented Dec. 19, 1911.

Application filed July 21, 1911. Serial No..639,826.

To all whom it-ma/y concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. MOELLER, a citizen of the United States,-residing at Wyoming, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Tank Absorbent Fillers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in gas tank absorbent fillers.

- The object of my invention is to provide a safe economical, convenient, eflicient and durabl such as are used. to furnish light for automobiles, and for various other purposes.

My inventionconsists in a compressed asbestos tubular shell containing a mixture of asbestos and cot-ton fibers, and provided at its open end with a layer or thickness of asbestos fiber only, and having the end covered with asbestos "cloth suitably secured in position thereon.

compressed asbestos tubular shell ready for filling. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the tubular shell ready to be placed in the gas tank. Fig 3 is a view of the asbestos struct this shell by taking asbestos material, cutting 1t to the required lar shell.

cloth disk for covering the end of the tubu- Fig. 4. is a longitudinal sectional view of the gas tank and the tubular shell placed therein, taken'on the line 4-4 of Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a view of one end of the tank. Fig. 6 is a cross section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a view of one end'of the tank. r

In the embodiment of my invention as illustrated and which shows a preferred com struction, 1 represents a tubular compressed asbestos'shell, which is formed in an suit able and convenient manner, pre erably without overlapping seams or edges. I cona sheet of wet shape to form a tubular shell, lace it upon a form and then compress same; until its meeting edges are joined and firmly united together .to form a' seamless tubular shell without uneven or overlapping raised parts,

thus obta'ming. a perfectly true and smooth e absorbent filler for use in gas tanks,-

obtain a proper understandin interior and exterior surface. I thoroughly mix a quantity of fibrous asbestos and cotton, and fill said tube therewith to w1th1n' a short distance of its open end, say for inder of said casing with asbestos fiber 3, packing it in the same manner. Over the open end of said casing I secure a disk of ashestos cloth 4 by means of strips or tapes 5, pasted to said disk and to the tube respectively. The asbestosfiberand cotton fiber, as well as the tubular shell, form a porous body for the purposes'hereinafter set forth. When the filler 6 is thus formed, it is ready to be placed within a metal tank 7 of sim1- lar shape, and sealed therein by having one end 8 of the tank brazed therein. The air within the tank is then exhausted through the outlet 9 by means of a suitable air pain and the vacuum space thus created is filleii with. liquid acetone or acetaldehyde, or other liquids which have the property'of absorb- .in acetylene gas, when the tank is thus d as much acetylene gas as will be absorbedin the mixture and in said liquid, will be introduced into the tank' ready' for use in producing a li ht. f Whenthe (gas tank is thus provided with filler and chargedwith the.

my improve liquid, it is ready for continuous use, and all that is necessary thereafter is tocharge it with acetylene gas through the outlet 'or valve 9 as it is used up; the mixture and the liquid remaining permanent-1y therein as the absorbent agents for the acetylene gas. A suitable gage 10 is provided to register the pressure within the tank. In order to of the advantages and merits of my invention, it should bestated that acetylene gas it stored under apressure ofover fifteen pounds per square inch, is liable to explode from a ar or spark or any other slight cause. In storing it for use for lighting purposes, it has I to be stored under a ressure of from two hundred and fifty to ree hundred pounds per square. inch 1n order to get enough gas m a sufiicientl small tank'to make it commercially. use There are a series, or familymf liquids among which'are acetone,

acetaldehyde and others which have the property of. absorbing acetylene When the gas is so absorbed, it can be stored safely up to a pressure of three hundred pounds per square inch. When these liquids absorb the acetylene gas they expand. Consequently 1f a tank were filled with such a uantit of this liquid so that when fully c arge to say three hundred 1pounds pressure per square inch the tan were completely full, and then a guantity of acetylene gas should be drawn 0 a cavity would be left in the tank due to the contraction of the liquid which would leave a pocket of gas under a fairly high pressure. This would then be in dan er of explosion from a very slight cause. onsequently in storing acetylene gas by absorbing it in a liquid, a spongy arrangement has to be provided to take care of the expansion and contraction of the li uid. By this arrangement, when the liquid contracts, only small pockets of gas are formed throughout the sponge, and these pockets are too small to cause any danger of explosion. When acetylene gas thus absorbed in liquid is thus stored, there is absolutely no danger of explosion up to three hundred pounds per square inch.

If pure asbestos fiber is used as a filler, when the absorbing liquid enters the filler the asbestos fiber has a tendency to pack i the tank is subjected to a jarring motion.

If the filler is made in a form that is spongy, that is, one which will expand when it absorbs liquid, the irregularities or depressions are usually allowed to the extent of one-eighth of an inch, as it is estimated that when such fillers absorb liquids they will expand and completely fill up the storage tank. However, if a filler has a hard shell which will not allow for expansion the maximum distance from the outside o the filler to the inside wall of the tank is usually limited to one-sixteenth of an inch,

asit is estimated that a gas pocket of this size; will not be dangerous. The hard wall of the filler is simply a means for handling the same.

The compressed asbestos tubular shell as made by me has several advantages over the molded types of fillers. As the shell is made on a form which is turned absolutely true to start with. the shell itself is always absolutelv circular in cross section. The surface of the shell is likewise extremely smooth with no pockets or indentations. A straight edge laid along the outside surface of the tubular shell shows that a variation from a straight line is very small indeed, probably not greater than a thirty-second of an inch in any case. The shell itself is stiff enough to make it 'easy to handle the entire filler when it is ready to be placed in the tank, and is likewise flexible enough to conform to the shape of'the tank incase it is not a true circle. There are no external laps or irregularities caused by folding one sheet of asbestos paper over another. It can be made to fit absolutely true to any curvature that there may be in the storage tank. A filler made up of such a shell packed with a mixture of asbestos and cotton fiber has a much greater porosity than the molded type;

of filler.

Up to the present time the method of maklng a molded filler was as follows: A erforated metal mold was made slightly arger in internal dimensions than the external dimensions of the finished filler. Cotton and asbestos fibers were then packed tightly into this perforated mold, which was then dipped for a given length of time into a binding solution. These molds were allowed to dry under various temperatures until all moisture was driven off and then the molds were 0 ened and the molded filler taken out. In t is process ofdrying, the fillers were liable to shrink and warp, causing irregularities in the surface. The binding material likewise penetrated to various depths due to the manner in which the fibrous materials were packed in the mold and also due to the length of time which the mold was dipped in the binding solution. This caused various thicknesses of this outer crust or wall which in turn caused variations in the poroslty. The fillers made in this manner were very seldom uniform. This is the big advantage which my compressed asbestos shell packed with cotton and asbestos fiber has over the old type of molded fillers. B my construction I get a shell into which brous material is packed in order that the Whole may be readlly and conveniently handled, after it is assembled as shown in Fig; 2 ready for shipment or storage. It can e readily inserted into the metal tank and sealed therein as shown in Fig. 4. Thus it will be seen that I derive the important advantage of having all of the fibrous material housed and protected within the'shell which is an article of manufacturejcomplete' in itself read whenever required for use in the metal tan Another advantage which it ossesses is that it may be so formed comp etc in itself ready to closely, accurately and 'rop'erly fit the tank in which it is to be aced. This shell is composed ofasbestos ber mixed with water,

In order to protect the outlet 9 and'keep asbestosthe asbestos fiber 3 from getting into the valve therein and clogging it the asbestos cloth disk 4 is. placed across the end to act asa sieve. My invention provides for the storing of a greater quantity of gas in a tank of a given size than otherwise, and it produces better gas than otherwise. It also does away with the binder and provides a new method of being able to handle the fiber.

The molded fillers will shrink and warp and are not adapted to fit the tank properly, whereas my device being formed true and smooth, produces a snug fit. The compressed asbestos tubular shell as made by me can be made to fit the dimensions of the tank much more accurately than the molded types of fillers, due to the fact that expansion or contract-ion can be more easily taken careoa and that the shell remains on the form snugly until it is dried, finished and ready to be packed With fibrous material or mixture. As before stated, it is smooth and straight, having no depressions or bends in it. Being a true circle, it will fill'exactly the tank to a very small fraction of an inch.

The rounded end conforms exactly to the rounded curvature of the tank. The thicknessof the Wall allows more space for asbestos and cotton fiber, thus increasing the porosity and consequently the capacity of the device. The liquid into which the gas is absorbed acts as a safeguard and has an extra storage capacity, as it will absorb three or four times its own volume. a The mixture of asbestos fiber and cotton fiber may be pressed or packed in the tubular shell as heretofore described, or said shell may be lined wit-h a binder to hold the fibrous materialto the walls of the shell and prevent said fibers from moving longitudinally therein, and also preventing the fibers from settling away from the walls, or as stated, of packing in the direction of the length of the wall. Briefly the filler constructed in accordance with my invention is more true, every piece being the same. It is more porous due to the thinness of the wall. It is lighter in weight due to the fact that the compressed asbestos pulp of which the shell is made lighter than the binding material used in the molded types of fillers.

I claim: 1. An article of manufacture comprising an asbestos shell having porous material placed therein, the whole to be used as an absorbent filler within and for acetylenegas tanks.

2. A gas tank absorbent filler, comprising an asbestos shell, a fibrous or spongy mixture within said shell adapted to receive asbestos, liquid and gas, substaritially as set forth.

3. A gas tank absorbent filler comprising a tubularcompressed asbestos shell, a fibrous mixture in said shell, and an asbestos cloth disk adapted to cover the end of said shell, substantially as set forth.

4. A gas tank asbestos filler comprising a compressed asbestos tubular shell and ab-' sorbent material contained within said shell.

'5. A gas tank absorbent filler comprising a compressed asbestos tubular shell having a curved closed end, cot-ton fiber and asbestos fiber mixed and commingled together in substantially equal proportions and filling said shell the greater portion of its length, as bestos fibers filling the shell theremainder of its length, and a sieve like covering for the open end of said shell, substantially as set forth.

6. In a gas tank absorbent filler, a compressed asbestos shell, an asbestos filler contained entirely within said compressed asbestos shell, and means for retaining said filler therein.

7. In a device of the character described,

a gas tank, a compressed asbestos shell therein. an absorbent mixture in said asbestos shell, means for retaining said mixture within said asbestos shell. said shell being adapted to closely fit within said tank, and an end adapted, to be brazed in said tank to close the same, substantially as set forth.

8. The herein described process which consists, firstin forming a compressed asbestos shell, then placing a mixture of asbestos and cotton fiber therein the'greater portion of its length, then placing av mixture of asbestos fiber therein the remainder of its length,

then placing an asbestos cloth sieve upon the end of said tube to cover the same and. re?

tain the fibers therein, then placing said filler thus formed within a metal tank and closing the same by brazing the end therein, then exhausting the air from said tank forming a vacuum 'therein, then filling said vacuum with absorbent liquid and then fill.-

,hg saidabsorbent liquid with acetylene gas,

1 s stantially as set forth and for the purposes specified. 1

WILLIAM J. MOELLER.

Witnesses;

JAMES N. RAMSEY. E. G. Ross. 

